Facilitator: Vasna
Note-taker: Mugdha
Participants: Ana Cecilia, Ashish, Vasna, Mugdha, Robert, Simon, Deissy, Melanie, Alex, Madhuresh, Hajar, Franco, Marco, Juan, Ryan, Simon T, Sol, Mauricio, Natalia, Carlos, Steve, Priscilla, Jose, Melanie, Aynur, Itzel, Annabelle, Matthew, Andrea, Raquel, Agostine
Link to whatsapp group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/I9GDxUt0Rzs9C8RGb1iSqy
Hajar Tazi joined us for the first time, from Post-Growth Institute, connected with us; as well as Simon Ticehurst from WEAll!
Some reflections from these breakout groups:
Ashish: The dire straits of the political and economical affairs of the world; the crackdown on peaceful protesting. Reiterating the importance of the GTA and being in solidarity with each other to get through this phase.
Marco: Despite being from different places our situations are very similar. Commons like the hope that is emergent, and visioning of possible futures.
Vasna: The smaller celebrations from our collective spaces, like some pictures from the Kenya assembly, some tomatoes that Necibe sent in. The reminder that we're all fighting many battles but there is incredible work happening.
Participated in many different sessions including the WSF on Transformative Economies, and a Vikalp Sangam process. WSF's political energies and potential, creating an assembly of civil society movements.
A possible idea is around fiction exploring the More than Human and bridging this gap.
Integrating across all of our different movements. In August last year, we collectively decided on Thematic and Working groups. Thematic groups were so named to learn more about the specific theme. Working groups focused on weaving a pluriverse and how we could go about doing that.
Priscilla: Bringing together a dictionary of concepts to highlight different ways of seeing, learning and doing. We have gotten funding for 2 years now, and please do join the group! Attached is the budget proposal.
Mauricio: We are going to have an encounter in Mexico at the end of the month. The first time we are organizing an encounter in the North of Mexico. Accompanying us also are some of CMCCrianza Mutua Colombia. The topics we will be working on, sharing experiences on defending water, defending land and sharig on food. We have a very strong drought at the moment, which means controlling water has become a big issue, water laws nationally (countering privatization). Elections in Mexico on the 2nd of June. A lot of moving parts. The involvement of drug trafficking. We want to put specific alternatives on the table, and if anyone wants more information, we can give you from Yucatan!
Discussing paradigms of Radical Democracy, which are feeding into the Gathering happening early next year. Indigenous territories, autonomous regions, facilitating and learning from these spaces. What are the challenges, what are the learnings? What is the future of democracy? Not in an academic sense, more on practitioners
Natalia would like to add to the Pedagog group.
(If you are interested in participating in the Solidarity Economy thematic group, please provide contact info here: https://forms.gle/xCp68px4BhiyZqcK7 and follow this link to join our WhatsApp community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/CcLqzVz6CNgJ6idA8nzmXN, https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1kFPC3HwPO1lrcKMSWHfVmvdACGXgCCxo589d9pzBzwA/edit?usp=sharing)
Exploring what solidarity economy means to us. Each of us carry a short narrative to share. Envisioning what our solidarity economy looks like. Still growing in some aspects, so we ask to invite people outside of GTA?
Related to SE - this week: https://decolonizingeconomicssummit.org/
Mauricio: This was a very recurring issue in Kenya. 3 overarching foci: 1) Agriculture, not just production but a way of life. A main alternative. 2) Caring for seeds, which goes further than just the technological. Passing down seeds from generation to generation. There are laws and international agreements on seeds, which don't work because they don't take into account the local realities. This also links to electoral politics. 3) Eating what we produce. We hold a meeting in mid-May, 15/16. Please share your email with us so that we can continue defending our land, and our realities.
Deissy: I'm interested in leading the Peace and Conflict Resolution working group
The importance is on keeping these spaces open so that new things can emerge from these spaces.
Melanie: https://decolonizingeconomicssummit.org/ This summit has been taking place for several years. Optional involvement fee. About grounding the question of alternatives. Grounded indigenous communities and those at the frontlines of struggle, particularly on Black formations of struggles. A lot of formations weaving in earnest. Conversations particularly in terms of the US. Inspirations are the young people who have moved from encampments to buildings. What has been and what will be: an alternative tapestry.
Juan: I work with Ecolise, in community initiatives. In some time we will have our in person General Assembly in Spain, about 100 people. Due to Covid, it has been 4 years since we had such a big event. Connected to the European elections, as a big part of our work is in policy. We have created a collective action manifesto. (https://communitiesforfuture.org/policy-and-advocacy/time-for-collective-action-manifesto/) Network in Europe. I will be attending in the Degrowth Conference.
Matthew: several of our grad students are attending the degrowth conference. Glad to make connections: matthew.burke@uvm.edu
Andrea: Positive news from Colombia: we've got a campaign for Many Worlds underway, put on an exhibition, an intervention, in a museum last week. Brought together 18 communities of weavers. All colleagues from alternatives came together. Weaving these communities has been very lovely. We keep working, we keep transitioning, and put all our energy into these projects!
Natalia: There is a volcano threatening us here. We also have a space wherein different collectives come together; the memories of this land that we belong to. Working together and weaving together. Alternative medicines and potions as well.
Mauricio: Several countries have electoral processes. Big political campaigns and expectations from the populations. In the case of Mexico, quite possible that we will have a female president But how can we make a difference in this political hope that only emerges during elections? It does manage to generate change, but the importance of looking at what is looking at the electoral processes and the different manifestos. Bringing all the threads together and making demands so that the new governors who are going to be elected, go beyond the political process. The GTA and alternatives step into between elections. We demand changes but we don't depend on them.
Raquel: So much geopolitical tension in our subregion, because of the rivalry between China and the US. They are a number of skirmishes that have already happened in the Philippines (west china) sea. The importance of creating commons, and the US changing the political landscapes completely. There are some internal conflicts in Myanmar or Burma, from friends there who also connect to MASSAMovement for Alternatives and Solidarity in Southeast Asia (South East Asia); the Milk Tea movement of the youth, an alternative movement emerging. Indigenous people coming together and sharing power with the military. Military: the mandatory reserve officer training in universities. Militarization going around. the ASEAN council: Alternative regionalism and civil society movements getting more introductions into alternatives.
Simon: After the beautiful Kenya meeting, civil society orgs in Kenya got together. There was a lot of interest to engage with the GTA. An emergent weaving process in Kenya, including the support of the GTA. Ashish and the VSVikalp Sangam (India) presented some learnings from their weaving. The political organization and the different perspectives coming from different people.
Ashish: VS is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Inviting people from South Asia and South-East Asia; a larger confluence beyond India.
Vasna: WeaverA local, regional, or national network or organization that connects or consists of multiple Alternatives on different themes/spheres, in an inter-sectorial way. A global network cannot be a Waever, neither a thematic one. It should be a collective process of some kind, rather than only a single individual or single organization. By being a "weaver", they are committed to participate in the GTA, developing ways of dialogue, interconnection, collaboration and solidarity with other Weavers. GTA promotes the interconnection of the Weavers, identifying [[:weavers:criteria|a series common criteria for the weaving of Alternatives]]. Examples: Vikalp Sangam and Crianza Mutua. to weaver dialogues, the one between Mexico and Colombia is happening, of course, but we need to keep encouraging this exchanges.